All Reports

On February 15, 2018, President Trump nominated Michael Y. Scudder, Jr. to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Scudder is nominated to fill the seat previously held by Richard Posner, who retired on September 2, 2017. Scudder worked for the Department of Justice and in the White House on national security issues during the George W. Bush presidency. His time there overlapped with the Bush Administration’s concerning stances on executive power and civil liberties, including the rights of detainees. The Senate should carefully examine Scudder’s record before confirming him to a seat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

On January 23, 2018 President Trump nominated John Nalbandian to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Nalbandian was nominated to replace Judge John Rogers. Like the vast majority of Trump’s nominees, Nalbandian is a member of the Federalist Society, an outside group to which Trump has indicated he has delegated important aspects of the judicial nomination process.

On January 23, 2018, President Trump nominated Wendy Baldwin Vitter to serve as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. If confirmed, Vitter would take the seat previously held by Helen G. Berrigan, who took senior status on August 23, 2016. Alliance for Justice has published this snapshot to highlight certain troubling aspects of Vitter’s record.

Carson has been a career-long advocate for the oil and gas industry, and the bulk of his work has been in advancing corporate interests in contending with environmental regulations. Carson has also been a member of groups that have opposed the protection of endangered species, advocated for fracking, opposed affirmative action, and opposed civil rights.

On September 7, 2017, President Trump nominated Ryan Bounds to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bounds was nominated to replace Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain, who assumed senior status on December 31, 2016. Alliance for Justice has prepared this snapshot to highlight areas of Bounds’s record, based on our review thus far, in which we believe greater scrutiny by the Senate is warranted.

On August 3, 2017, President Trump nominated Milwaukee attorney Michael Brennan to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Alliance for Justice opposes his confirmation on grounds related both to the process that led to his nomination, and to the merits of his record.

On September 28, 2017, President Trump nominated Judge Kurt D. Engelhardt of the Federal District Court of Eastern Louisiana to fill a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Engelhardt was nominated to replace Judge Edith Clement Brown, who in September 2017 notified the President of her intent to take senior status.

On September 29, 2017, President Trump nominated Howard C. Nielson to the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Nielson’s nomination continues Trump’s trend of offering lifetime appointments to ideological attorneys and judges.

On September 7, 2017, President Trump nominated Elizabeth L. “Lisa” Branch to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Branch is nominated to replace Judge Frank M. Hull who, on July 4, 2017, notified the President of her intent to take senior status at the end of this year. After reviewing Branch’s record, Alliance for Justice has concerns regarding her views on substantive due process under the 14th Amendment.

On October 2, 2017, President Trump nominated Stuart Kyle Duncan for a seat vacated by W. Eugene Davis on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Alliance for Justice strongly opposes his confirmation.